When Toll Brothers heard about NAHB’s efforts to join in this year’s National Groundhog Job Shadow Day, the home builder didn’t hesitate to get involved.

“We saw this as an opportunity to raise awareness of careers in construction and the home building industry and to create relationships with students at the high school and trade school level, as well as faculty and advisors,” said Valerie Steinke, University Relations & College Recruiting at Toll Brothers.

Students from Shadow Ridge High School, in Surprise, Ariz., tour a home construction site.

On Feb. 2, 32 students from high schools in six states across the country took part in a full day of job shadowing activities to help them better understand the range of the industry’s career opportunities. The students started their day at the local Toll Brothers’ sales office and talked with staff there, including sales managers, project administrators and construction managers.

They learned more about the history of the community and the home-buying process in the sales office and then headed out to see homes in different phases of construction. The project managers explained community budgets, the quality assurance process and land acquisition and development. Toll Brothers also ensured the busy schedule provided plenty of time for the students to have more casual conversations with its employees about career options.

Students from Rockville High School, in Vernon, Conn., get a closer look at home construction.

To get started, Toll Brothers worked with NAHB’s Student Chapters program to find local schools in their communities with student chapters. This helped open up the door for the home builder to create new educational partnerships.

“With the positive feedback we received from both the schools and host communities, we are excited to further our relationships with the schools we worked with this year. And we are hoping to branch out to more schools next year,” Steinke said.